The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History is a fascinating collection that educators, students, and historians will all find useful in helping them understand the causes and consequences of the most infamous military failures in history. The dynamics of military disaster are equally, if not more, important as understanding how to achieve success on the battlefield. This comprehensive book covers the complete gamut of human history as it tells the compelling stories of the worst military debacles of all time. It covers battles, campaigns, and wars, starting with the ancient Persians and Greeks and finishing with the U.S. conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not limited to land warfare, however, the book also includes a number of the most disastrous naval engagements and campaigns in world history. This title opens with a detailed introduction illuminating the role military strategy and politics played in some of the worst battlefield failures throughout history. The entries are augmented with several engaging sidebars related to various military disasters. This eclectic collection includes coverage of many lesser known military disasters such as the Taiping Rebellion, during which 20 times more Chinese died than the number of people killed in the American Civil War.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part I Ancient Military Disasters 1 Megiddo 2 Marathon 3 Salamis 4 Syracuse Expedition 5 Gaugamela 6 Chang-Ping 7 Cannae 8 Zama 9 Pharsalus 10 Teutoburg Forest 11 Adrianople 12 Catalaunian Plains 13 Yarmouk 14 Baekgang Part II. Medieval Military Disasters 15 Tours 16 Hastings 17 Hattin 18 Kamikaze: The Second Mongol Invasion of Japan 19 Lake Boyang 20 Grünwald 21 Agincourt 22 Bosworth Field Part III. Military Disasters from the Early Modern Period 23 The Conquest of the Aztecs 24 Lepanto 25 The Spanish Armada 26 Pyongyang 27 Sekigahara 28 The Sack of Magdeburg 29 Breitenfeld 30 Nördlingen 31 Naseby 32 Rocroi 33 Ramillies 34 Poltava 35 Rossbach 36 Quebec 37 Kunersdorf 38 Quiberon Bay 39 The Siege of Pondicherry 40 Yorktown Campaign 41 Rivoli 42 The Nile 43 Second Battle of Zürich Part IV. Nineteenth-Century Military Disasters 44 Trafalgar 45 Jena–Auerstedt 46 Tippecanoe 47 Leipzig 48 The Alamo 49 San Jacinto 50 Siege of Nanjing 51 The Capture of New Orleans 52 The Vicksburg Campaign 53 Koeniggratz 54 Sedan 55 Battle of the Little Bighorn 56 Isandlwana 57 The Yalu 58 Manila Bay Part VI. Recent Military Disasters 59 Tsushima Strait 60 Tannenberg 61 The Gorlice-Tarnow Offensive 62 Verdun 63 Battle of the Somme 64 German U-Boat Offensive in World War I 65 Caporetto 66 Shanghai 67 Nomonhan 68 France 1940 69 The Battle of Britain 70 Crete 71 Pearl Harbor 72 Wake Island 73 Singapore 74 Bataan 75 Midway 76 The Destruction of PQ-17 77 The Dieppe Raid 78 El Alamein 79 Operation Torch 80 Guadalcanal 81 Kursk (Operation Citadel) 82 Ploesti Raid (Operation Tidal Wave) 83 The Second Schweinfurt Raid 84 Normandy Landings 85 The Philippine Sea 86 Imphal and Kohima 87 Operation Bagration 88 The Falaise Pocket 89 Battle of Arnhem 90 Operation Bodenplatte 91 Battle of Osan 92 Chinese Intervention 93 Battle of Dien Bien Phu 94 Ap Bac 95 The Six-Day War (1967 Arab-Israeli War) 96 The Tet Offensive 97 Lam Son 719 98 1973 Arab-Israeli War–Sinai (Yom Kippur War) 99 Iran-Iraq War: The First Gulf War 100 Iraqi Freedom Index